Sorry, Try Again
by Dayslipper
Summary: Dropping into a strange town looks like the end of the line for Kadaj. But an icyeyed stranger rescues him and suddenly, a new life may be worth the pain. Shounenai. Xover with FFVII:AC.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Sorry, Try Again  
Author: Dayslipper  
E-mail: chicmusique at yahoo dot com  
Part: 1 of ?  
Disclaimer: I don't own a single character or setting within. No profit is being made from this fanwork.  
Warning: Nothing, yet.  
Rating: Will eventually be 'M.  
Summary: What if Advent Children Aerith sent Kadaj off to start again in a place he comes to find is called Traverse Town? What if he found himself torn between a young man who looks like his brother, a brother who doesn't know him, a new chance at a mother, and an icy-eyed man who took him in?  
Pairing: Forthcoming. 

o.o.o.o.o

Green eyes opened slowly, taking in unfamiliar brickwork as it slowly came into focus. His head hurt. It shouldn't have hurt. He wasn't really used to pain - not pain like what surged through his body as he tried to sit up.

"Yazoo?" he whispered, bringing a black-gloved hand up to his forehead as though the motion would somehow alleviate the pain on the other side of his skull. "Loz?"

He couldn't feel them. Everything was quiet. Other than the pulsing pain, even his head was quiet.

And then, even with his headache and joints aching, he laughed.

Leaning back against the cool brick wall, he looked at his hands as he held them out before him. Nothing. No power. No magic. He searched for what screamed within him before but he couldn't find it.

"Am I... human?" he asked the empty alley as he tried to stand. Weak and useless... He was tired, but he was whole.

Stumbling out into what looked to be a quaint little town, he paused to raise a hand to shield his sensitive eyes from the burning streetlamps.

"What is this place?"

"The last place in the multi-verse," a voice replied beside him.

Startled, he took a step back and crashed into a wall. His legs decided not to hold him and a moment later he realized he was being carried, carefully, by whomever it was that had found him to begin with.

"You're light," the man said, blurry through the silver hair blocking green eyes from seeing much of anything. "I'm sure you're hungry, too."

The world spun for a second as he found himself almost dropped onto a hard wooden chair, slumping forward to rest against an equally hard table.

"You're new," the man continued, his voice sounding half-concerned and half-disdainful. "I guess worlds are still being destroyed out there."

"Worlds...?" No... that didn't sound right. The Lifestream. The Cetra. They had... That beautiful woman... The warmth he had always wanted...

"Name's Leon," the man said. A sort of scuffling noise followed, which ended with two glasses of water being placed on the table. "What's yours?"

Water had never tasted so good, if he was even sure he knew how it tasted.

"Kadaj," he finally said, wondering if half the pain in his body was hunger. That and exhaustion.

"Kadaj," Leon replied. "This is Traverse Town. It's the last stop on the trans-world express. A dumping ground. Anyone who doesn't end up as a heartless ends up here."

Not caring much for whatever the word 'heartless' implied, Kadaj wanted to laugh again, even as tears formed at the corners of his eyes. The last stop. The dump. Instead of peace, he had this.

"Are you... okay?" Leon asked, reaching over to touch Kadaj's shoulder.

"I'm supposed to be okay?" Kadaj asked. "I'm... here."

"There are quite a few people here," Leon said, not moving the weight of his hand from Kadaj. The pressure. Comforting. He wanted to think that he liked it.

Something smelled wonderful.

He could hear a female voice, incidental and talking to Leon. He wasn't even entirely sure what was on the plate in front of him, save that it was some sort of noodle dish. He didn't care. It smelled good.

"I can help you get a room at the hotel, too," Leon said. Kadaj found himself missing the weight of Leon's hand on his shoulder. He'd liked the contact. "I have a friend about your age, too. She could show you around once you get some rest."

"Th... Thank you," Kadaj said, trying to shove as much food into his mouth as he could. The words felt foreign on his tongue. But he wasn't used to feeling so helpless, either. He wasn't used to being so weak.

"Some clothing too," Leon mused. "Quite an interesting outfit you have, though. I'd like to hear about your world sometime."

Kadaj nearly choked on his mouthful of noodles. He'd tried to destroy his world, yet he'd been allowed salvation.

"I don't think it was really my world anyway," Kadaj said once he'd swallowed. "I don't think I was real until now."

"What?"

"It's complicated," Kadaj said in the coldest tone he could manage towards someone so genuinely willing to take care of him.

"That's okay," Leon replied.

Brushing his hair aside, Kadaj finally bothered to take a look at his benefactor. He swallowed hard. Not nearly as pretty as Yazoo, he thought, but close.

In silence, Kadaj kept eating, glancing up every few minutes to make sure Leon was still there. He wasn't used to being alone. He always had someone, even if that was only inside his head.

With food in his stomach, his body began to ache less and he actually felt as though he could walk without falling.

"Leon?" Kadaj asked, still watching the man closely.

"Yes?"

"I've never been alone before," he said, trying to wipe his mouth clean from the sauce he knew he'd splattered. "Not... Not for more than a few hours."

"I'll take you to meet my friend, then," Leon said, leaving a pile of coins on the table. "Feel good enough to walk? I don't mind carrying you..."

"I can walk," Kadaj insisted, suddenly feeling a little ashamed that he'd had to be carried at all.

"She's usually in Third District," Leon said, gesturing for Kadaj to follow him. "There isn't much in Third District, so she practices her magic there."

"Magic?" Kadaj asked. It obviously had to be a different sort of power than he was used to. He couldn't feel even the smallest spark within himself.

"Well, not everyone can do it," Leon admitted. "There's a wizard living just past Third District too - he might be willing to see if you have any potential."

Kadaj froze. Already Leon seemed to be planning things out for him.

"This is forever, isn't it? The end of the line?"

"No," Leon said. "There's a chance that someday everyone will get to go back to their worlds."

Nodding, Kadaj resigned himself to silence. He'd failed on his world, defeated by the man he desperately wanted to love and call brother. But...

Leon pushed open the doors to Third District, revealing an open area and in one corner, a young woman balanced precariously on a giant shuriken.

"Squall!" she called, hopping down and kicking the weapon up to her hand, slinging it on her back as she ran across the square.

"Leon," Leon corrected, shaking his head.

"Leon," she repeated, laughing. "Sorry. Someday I'll get it right."

"This is Kadaj," Leon said, gesturing half-behind him at where Kadaj had slipped. There was something much too familiar about that girl. But she didn't seem to recognize him at all.

"Hello," Kadaj managed, wondering if he was going to die now that he'd finally been given a chance to live.

"Hiya!" the woman replied, holding out her hand. "I'm Yuffie, the best ninja in all of Traverse Town."

"The only ninja in Traverse Town," Leon corrected.

"Hey," Yuffie cried, pulling her hand back before Kadaj could extend his own and settling both hands on her hips. "I've got the duck boys to join my junior ninja guild, thanks very much!"

"And I need to finish the errands I had started before Kadaj fell on me," Leon said, waving as he slipped back through the district doors, pulling them closed behind him.

Kadaj stared.

"That was really friendly, for him," Yuffie said, shaking her head. "I hope you don't think you're being dumped off or anything. I'll take good care of you. You just got here, right? I can show you around."

"Leon said you would," Kadaj commented. Yuffie seemed to genuinely not know him in the slightest. Whatever second chance he'd been given, it seemed absolute.

"So how old are you?" Yuffie asked. "I almost thought you were a girl, sorry..."

"Seventeen," Kadaj lied. He thought he could pass for that age. That had to be about the same age that Yuffie was.

"You'll still grow, then," Yuffie announced. "So will I."

"You're..."

"Almost seventeen," she replied. "Hmmm. Well, I guess I should start the tour here. This is Third District. There's a house up on the next level that gets rented out, and the passage to the swampy lake where this old magician lives. I don't like the swamp, but he's taught me to throw fireballs!"

Kadaj couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. His head wasn't hurting as much and without any other purpose, he was beginning to believe he could enjoy life in this place, no matter how fleeting it was.

"Fireballs," he repeated, thinking perhaps he'd like to learn as well. If he could. If all of his power hadn't been left behind when he was dropped off here, at the end of the line.

"Yeah. I'll show you later. They aren't that easy to do yet and I did a couple earlier to show off," Yuffie admitted. "Let's go to second district. That's where the hotel is."

"I don't think I've ever slept alone," Kadaj said, trying to remember days past.

"Oh?" Yuffie said, stopping in her tracks. "Big family?"

"Kinda," Kadaj replied.

"They... Don't worry about them," Yuffie said softly. "Leon's sure that they aren't in any pain or anything, even if your world is totally gone."

He hadn't even thought about it. Yazoo and Loz. They were somewhere. He hoped they were together, if anything. Their bond was stronger. As much as they were one creation in three bodies, the two of them seemed to move still as a single unit, even as they prepared for sleep.

"As long as they're together," Kadaj said out loud.

Yuffie smiled. They kept walking.

"You'll need to meet Cid, of course," Yuffie said as they passed into Second District, past the house Yuffie had mentioned as a rental. Somehow, the thought of actually owning anything in such a place seemed awkward. "Cid is a pilot and mechanic and just about anything else anyone needs. He's great. His shop is in First District."

"Is it night?" Kadaj asked suddenly, realizing that the sky was black above them.

"Oh, it's always dark here," Yuffie replied. "You'll get used to it. And if you do need some sunshine, there's a place we can go - another world we can have Cid take us to."

"You can fly to... space?" Kadaj asked, still looking up.

"That's not quite it." Yuffie paused, apparently searching for wording.

"What, then?"

"Think of this more like an island," Yuffie finally said. "And there are other islands."

Kadaj laughed. More doomed worlds. It was almost fitting. What was one when there could be many?

"That wasn't a bad explanation!" the ninja exclaimed.

"Not you," Kadaj said quickly as he glanced at that shuriken. "Just... I've never been without purpose. Or without... anything. Each second was for a reason and now..."

"You'll find reason all over again," Yuffie said with a grin. "You're already making friends."

Friends? Yuffie considered herself a friend? But she'd just met him. She didn't know him. She didn't know that her alternate self had wanted him dead.

"Oh, that's the Gizmo Shop," Yuffie said pointing. "It's kinda creepy since no one works there or anything but machinery keeps running anyway and the bell on top of it rings the hour even though no one ever admits to doing it."

Kadaj stared up at the huge building, wondering why the town would bother keeping such a place around. But perhaps it was just something they couldn't get rid of either for reasons long lost.

"Most everyone lives either here or in First District," Yuffie continued. "Right now, Leon and I live above Cid's Accessory shop. He owns it, but he usually has the dumbest clerk in the universe running it. Sometimes Leon works there for extra money, but he's a little embarrassed about it so I wouldn't mention it if I were you."

"You and Leon are..."

"Oh, nothing like that!" Yuffie corrected immediately. "We're just business partners. The sunny world has fighting tournaments and we enter together."

Kadaj felt a wave of relief wash over him, one he didn't understand the reasoning behind.

"And Cid's girlfriend who just happens to be my best friend in the world... she lives there too," Yuffie rambled, guiding Kadaj into first district. "Her name is... Oh, there she is!"

Yuffie ran ahead, towards a woman in pink who had her back turned. But before she could answer Yuffie's call, Kadaj knew.

And he managed to keep walking forward, wondering if this Aerith would have any idea who he was and if she, too, would pass judgment upon him.

"Hello," Aerith said, smiling as she handed Yuffie the bag she'd been carrying and reached to pull Kadaj into a warm embrace. "You poor thing. You've lost everything, haven't you?"

Kadaj nodded against her, not bothering to try to stop the tears that were now pouring down his face. Slowly, he reached to hug her back, wondering if he should even be allowed to touch her again.

"Um, this is Kadaj," Yuffie said in the background. "And Aerith."

Maybe, Kadaj realized, the end of the line wasn't the worst place to be after all.

o.o.o.o.o  
Notes: A bit of an alternate-universe crashed against an alternate-timeline. I'd originally intended this to take place during Kingdom Hearts 2 and use those settings, however I'm not comfortable enough in my understanding of the situational elements of KH2 to even dare. I'm so sorry. The plotbunny appeared as a joke! I didn't think it would come back and bite me in the ass!


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Sorry, Try Again   
Author: Dayslipper   
Part: 2 of ?  
Disclaimer: I don't own a single character or setting within. No profit is being made from this fanwork.  
Warning: Nothing, yet.  
Rating: Will eventually be 'M.  
Summary: What if Advent Children Aerith sent Kadaj off to start again in a place he comes to find is called Traverse Town? What if he found himself torn between a young man who looks like his brother, a brother who doesn't know him, a new chance at a mother, and an icy-eyed man who took him in?  
Pairing: Forthcoming.  
"""" 

"Aerith," Kadaj murmured, lacing his fingers together behind Aerith's back, not wanting to let go of her. Even though he was already sure he'd lost every other sensory enhancement that went along with his previous not-entirely corporeal existence, he could feel a calming acceptance radiating from her.

She would give him another chance.

"It must have been scary," Aerith whispered, running her fingers through his hair. "But you're safe now, Kadaj. You're safe."

"Leon found him," Yuffie said a minute later. "But... He kinda had stuff to do so I've been giving Kadaj the tour. He's seventeen and from a big family, so..."

"I think that you and Leon have enough room for a guest," Aerith commented as she reached back to gently squeeze at where Kadaj was holding her.

Almost embarrassed to still be clinging, Kadaj stepped back, looking down at the worn stone beneath his feet while the women talked about him like he was a stray kitten.

He felt almost like a stray kitten. He'd found the perfect analogy for himself. Finally reaching up to clear the tears lingering on his cheeks, he wasn't the least bit surprised when Yuffie popped in front of his face.

"You're gonna stay with me and Squall," Yuffie announced. "Leon, I mean. I should have thought of that!"

"Leon said there was an inn..." Kadaj whispered. The acceptance was growing to be overwhelming and if anything, he really did want to just lay down and close his eyes for a bit.

"I'm sure you're tired, aren't you?" Aerith asked. "We can go back to the shop right now..."

"I don't want to be a burden," Kadaj replied. "If there's an inn..."

"You're coming with us," Yuffie reiterated, grabbing Kadaj's hand and pulling him a few steps. "And stop crying. You'll get used to everything here. It's hard not to be sad at first. We were all sad."

"Yuffie," Aerith warned. "Be careful with him. He's tired."

"I'm right here," Kadaj reminded her. "And you don't know a thing about me - how can you just take me in?"

"A feeling in my heart," Aerith replied, smiling. "You made it through the darkness. Only a powerful love can do that."

"Love," Kadaj repeated. "Love?"

"Yes," Aerith said as she took Kadaj's other hand. "But you're tired, aren't you? Let Yuffie and I worry about things for a little while."

Nodding, Kadaj let himself be led to a brickwork shop that rose up near the center of the district.

"Cid isn't here right now," Aerith commented as she waved to the clerk with her free hand. "He heard something about rare gummi blocks and headed right off towards some sort of space whale. Even though he may seem a little hard headed, it's always been to keep us safe."

"Cid and Aerith and Leon and I are all from the same world," Yuffie explained. "I think that as far as 'really destroyed' worlds go, we have the highest number of survivors."

"Four?" Kadaj questioned. That was not a very large number. Whatever was being fought against, it seemed as though this group was part of the side losing. Leon had mentioned something - Heartless. But the term didn't mean anything to him. And certainly everything in town seemed quiet, so far.

"Six, actually," Aerith answered. "Two don't live in this world, though. Circumstances."

"If you stay... oh, your eyes!" Yuffie brushed back Kadaj's hair and leaned in to stare at him from just inches away. "Are you sure you aren't from Hollow Bastion?"

"I don't... think so," Kadaj replied.

"Just think what he'll grow up to look like," Yuffie said with a smile. "Aerith, no wonder you like him so much."

"What?"

"You do look like him," Aerith said with another smile. "Maybe that's why I feel so drawn to you. I don't remember what he looked like at your age though - he was off with the king's army... My older brother, Sephiroth."

Kadaj wondered why things were spinning around him. And why the girls' voices seemed so far away.

Darkness. Quiet.

- -

"You what?"

Kadaj blinked once in the darkness before remembering that he was still alive. But what he'd been told - this world was so radically different than what he'd left. Aerith and Sephiroth - siblings? Perhaps it was why the other Aerith - his Aerith - had picked this particular place to leave him.

Thankfully still in his clothes and beneath a pile of nearly suffocating blankets that he could only imagine Yuffie had lumped on top of him, Kadaj could hear just pieces of the conversation occurring in the room beyond.

"Oh, as if you really needed a separate room for all that junk," Yuffie shot back. The first voice - that had been Leon.

That's right. He'd passed out.

"I'm going to go down and talk to Aerith." Leon did not sound happy.

"She helped me," Yuffie commented. "Besides, he needs a place to stay. And Aerith said he's okay."

"We'll see," Leon replied. "But I'm not going to baby-sit."

Kadaj sighed silently. Leon had seemed so much nicer earlier, in person.

Pushing away the blankets, he could see well enough thanks to the light coming in beneath the door. He had to be in Yuffie's room. As he reached for the doorknob, he paused. This was his new home - not a weekend away. He'd been granted sanctuary by an Aerith who was Sephiroth's sister, of all things. With no magic and no real purpose and no one else to rely on to watch his back, Kadaj couldn't help but stumble upon the realization that he had to make all of this work.

He opened the door.

Both Leon and Yuffie had their hands full when they turned at the sound of the door creaking on its hinges. Boxes were strewn around the main room of the apartment, likely what the pair had been arguing about.

"You're up!" Yuffie let her armload drop before scrambling over a low sofa to land right in front of Kadaj. "And y'know, if you open the door really quickly, it doesn't squeak like that."

"Apparently you're staying here," Leon said flatly from across the room where he was kneeling to grab what Yuffie had dropped. "I expect you to carry your weight."

"I... I might need some help at first," Kadaj admitted as he glanced over towards where the main room transitioned into a fairly messy kitchen. He didn't even know how to explain that even dirty dishes were a mystery to him.

"If Yuffie can do..." Leon began, only to be interrupted by the ninja.

"Hey, this coming from someone who tries to do laundry but is always shrinking my shorts?" Yuffie shot back. She glanced back at Kadaj for a moment. "We aren't always like this. Leon's a good roommate and I think you will be too. Besides, the town has plenty of things to do so it isn't like we even spend that much time here."

"Well, do you fight?" Leon asked as he carried a couple of boxes over to a corner and dropped them. "There are quite a few dangers that go with living here. Even some skill with a sword..."

"I think you'd be surprised," Kadaj replied, smiling ever so slightly. Yes, he could fight. That was about all he could do, but he very much could fight. If taking care of some pitiful monsters would help him along the path to salvation, he could to it.

"Really?" Yuffie asked. "But you're so small! I could probably pick you right up."

There was a pause as Yuffie held up a hand to her head and then shuffled it through the air to see that actually, Kadaj was just a bit taller.

"'Kay, nevermind that."

"Apparently Yuffie and Aerith cleaned out the spare bedroom for you," Leon interjected. "Though I don't assume you have anything to put in it yet."

"That's right, Squall. And even though he would fit in my clothing..."

"I'm right here," Kadaj reminded her. Yuffie laughed.

"Why don't I take Kadaj to Second District to get a few things," Leon suggested.

"But..." Yuffie began.

"And you can finish cleaning up the mess that you and Aerith made."

Yuffie sighed and put a hand to her forehead before flopping back over the low sofa and rolling off the other side before springingly grabbing a box. "Oh, okay..."

"Kadaj? Up to going out?"

"I guess," Kadaj replied as he stretched once. His body felt better, at least, after getting some rest. He wasn't hungry. Wasn't tired. Felt... okay.

"Good," Leon said. "Because I really don't trust either of the girls to pick out clothing for you."

"Squall! I'm still here!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Leon," he corrected.

Kadaj smirked. Life was really going to be different. But interesting. And certainly not dull.

- -

"So you're a fighter," Leon said as they crossed into Second District. "I should have guessed. You carry yourself like one."

"Huh?" Really, Kadaj had just been looking up at the buildings and the sky, almost forgetting Leon was beside him.

"We'll get you a weapon first," Leon continued. "I look forward to a spar. If you're any good, Yuffie and I will take you to that world that I mentioned before, with the battle tournaments."

"But..."

"Unless you'd really like to find a job here."

"I do need to pay for... everything, don't I?" Kadaj asked, more to himself than to Leon. Yazoo had always taken care of that petty stuff and he'd never asked questions. But Yazoo was gone. Yazoo and Loz.

He wondered why he wanted to start crying. He'd never really... not until...

"Kadaj?"

"Sorry," Kadaj whispered, realizing he'd just stopped and was standing still. Reaching up to brush away the tears gathered at the corners of his eyes, he noticed that Leon had an exceptionally conflicted look on his face.

"Normally, this is where Aerith would hug someone," Leon said once Kadaj looked up properly. "But I don't really know..."

Still, he moved to put a hand on Kadaj's shoulder, the weight warm and comfortable in the dark town.

They stood there in silence for a moment; until Leon pulled his hand away and gestured that they should keep going.

"It may sound like bullshit, but it does get easier," he said. "I was your age when I ended up here. But I was just angry more than anything."

"Angry?" Kadaj asked.

"At myself, mainly, for failing. For losing everything," Leon admitted. "But that's... I guess the important thing to remember is that what happened wasn't your fault."

Kadaj didn't know how to reply. If anything, everything was his fault. Yet being angry at himself hadn't even really popped into his head. Probably because he hadn't had enough time to think about it.

"Here," Leon announced, pointing at a weapons shop. "Find something you'll be comfortable with and don't worry about cost. Consider it your welcoming gift."

"But..." Bells jingled overhead as they entered. The shopkeeper waved to Leon before going back to the book she'd been reading.

It took a minute before Kadaj realized that there were many worlds worth of weapons almost piled in the shop, hanging on every wall and stacked even in the center. Anything he could think of...

"Anything in particular?"

Kadaj wondered when the shopkeeper had even gotten to her feet and slid out from behind the counter.

"Dual katana," he replied softly. There was a slim chance that anything like that existed in this world, anyway. And it wasn't a particularly well-designed weapon, though usually no one got close enough to realize that little fact.

"Like this?" the shopkeeper questioned as she pulled a sword out what looked like an umbrella stand filled with swords.

Leon was just standing with his arms crossed, watching the entire scene play out.

Kadaj pushed his hair back, staring for a moment at what she was offering him.

"Yes," he said. "Yes, that's... it."

Once the sword in his hands, he couldn't help but smile as he felt a familiar warmth for a fleeting second.

"Well, I think we can agree on a price for it," the woman continued. "That thing has been here for quite awhile, actually. So..."

She looked at Leon. Leon nodded.

"Quite awhile?" Kadaj asked, a little curious. But already he knew this world was radically different. Sephiroth. Aerith. Then... Thoughts collided in his mind and he wanted to run back to Aerith and ask the obvious questions of her.

Leon was still watching him intently, though. They had things to do.

And he had time. All he had was time.


End file.
